Field of the Invention
The invention lies in the automotive technology field. More specifically, the invention relates to a control device for the signal lights of a motor vehicle, such as direction indicators and warning flashers.
Conventional control devices for the signal lights of a motor vehicle generally have a flasher unit, which switches signal lights on and off via relays. An optical display on the dashboard indicates to the driver whether direction indicators or warning flashers are switched on. The driver also receives acoustic feedback since a typical ticking or clicking noise arises as the relays are switched. In addition, the relay can also be designed as a buzzer. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,415 and German published patent application DE 25 58 717 A1.
Relays are increasingly being replaced by semiconductor switching elements since the latter are not as fault-prone as relays. See German published patent application DE 37 24 916 A1 and European published application EP 0 693 399 A2. Since there is no longer a relay, the acoustic feedback is produced by an electronic buzzer, which ensures that the driver hears a noise during the flashing. However, this involves an additional component as compared with the relay, which both switched the current and produced the acoustic feedback. Moreover, the noise does not correspond to the typical noise of a relay.